Hard Case Crime to release lost James M. Cain novel The Cocktail Waitress

By Trent

What would we do without Hard Case Crime? Wither away and die, I suspect.

Excerpted from publisher Charles Ardai’s e-mail:

After more than 9 years of detective work and negotiation, we’ve tracked down a lost novel by James M. Cain, the author of the noir classics MILDRED PIERCE, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, and THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, and secured the rights for Hard Case Crime to publish the book. The book is titled THE COCKTAIL WAITRESS and it has never been published before in any form. We’ll be bringing it out in Fall 2012.

From the press release:

The Cocktail Waitress was the final book written by Cain, who died in 1977. He was working on revisions to the novel until close to the end of his life; handwritten notes and edits appear in the margins of numerous pages.

…

Combining themes from Mildred Pierce and The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Cocktail Waitress tells the story of a beautiful young widow, Joan Medford, whose husband died under suspicious circumstances. Desperate to make ends meet after his death, she takes a job as a waitress in a cocktail lounge, where he meets two new men: a handsome young schemer she falls in love with, and a wealthy older man she marries.

“Why am I taping this?” Joan narrates. “It’s in the hope of getting it printed to clear my name of the charges made against me…of being a femme fatale who knew ways of killing a husband so slick they couldn’t be proved. Unfortunately, they cannot be disproved either… All I know to do is to tell it and tell it all, including some things no woman would willingly tell…”

I'll have more at the site when I get a chance to write it, but this is sad news. Brian Garfield was not only a hell of a writer, but a really nice guy.
https://t.co/ZtFwM1Q9dB

Ralph Dennis' Hardman series begins coming back in print today from Brash Books. Read about Dennis here, including his previously unpublished novel that "...makes Parker look like a sissy." I haven't read Dennis' work yet, but lots of friends are fans. https://t.co/ItJvWdKeje